Carlos Baturin, a 69-year-old US-born Spanish national, and Emilio Menéndez, his 50-year-old partner, ended more than 30 years of courtship Monday when they became the first gay couple to marry in Spain.

Their wedding at the town hall of Tres Cantos, a suburb of Madrid, marks the first time that a controversial reform of Spain's civil code equating the marriage rights of homosexuals with those of heterosexuals - approved by Congress on June 30 - has been put into effect.

The story of their lives together also provides an insight into just how much attitudes have changed in Spain since they first met in a Madrid café on February 15, 1975, when Franco was still in power and homosexuals faced being sent to prison.

"Back then it was scandalous, but we still moved in together," says Emilio, who recalls how his mother would pray for him to change his sexuality.

"Now she's buying a cruise for us," notes Carlos.

The couple even moved to New York to escape the intolerance they faced in Spain, where homosexuality remained illegal even after Franco's death. Though the last cases of imprisonment for homosexual behavior date back to 1978, both official intolerance and social ostracism persisted for many years, with gays having to wait until 1995 to see their rights protected. Today, around two-thirds of Spaniards support the idea of homosexuals and heterosexuals having equal rights in every regard, although opposition to gay marriage and adoption remains fierce among Catholics and conservatives.

The legalization of homosexual marriage - "an historic event" in the view of gay rights activists - is the ultimate landmark in homosexuals' battle for equality. Carlos and Emilio's eagerness to enter into wedlock has the first gay couple to be married in Spain. Over the coming months hundreds of homosexuals are expected to follow in their footsteps down the aisle.